Ocasio-Cortez Makes Push To Keep Her Constituents Poor

“Democratic socialists” like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez constantly claim that they’re fighting for workers. Far-left parties frequently describe themselves as pro-worker or pro-labor… so why is the newest New York congresswoman speaking out against more jobs for her constituents?

As you may have heard, the retail giant Amazon recently decided to build a massive second headquarters in The Empire State. That means nearly 25,000 good jobs for people around New York City, yet Ocasio-Cortez is criticizing the move and seems to want Amazon to go somewhere else.

“Amazon is a billion-dollar company,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “The idea that it will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks at a time when our subway is crumbling and our communities need MORE investment, not less, is extremely concerning to residents here.”

Advertisement - story continues below

Amazon is a billion-dollar company. The idea that it will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks at a time when our subway is crumbling and our communities need MORE investment, not less, is extremely concerning to residents here.

The tax breaks that she’s referring to were part of a process that the state used to woo Amazon to New York, correctly presuming that attracting one of the largest employers in the world to the area would be a good thing. Without the tax breaks, Amazon would almost certainly have built in another state.

Yet tens of thousands of new jobs in New York is apparently “extremely concerning” to the socialist congresswoman. As The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra keenly pointed out, Ocasio-Cortez provided no proof that anyone other than her was upset with the Amazon decision.

Advertisement - story continues below

Ironically, Amazon has been doing exactly what liberals want recently, namely increasing its internal minimum wage and hiring more people.

“The choice of its new office sites follows Amazon’s September announcement that it would raise its minimum wage for warehouse workers to $15 an hour,” reported The Wall Street Journal. “Amazon also has announced major hiring plans over the past year as it builds out more warehouses and expands its U.S. workforce.”

Higher wages? More hiring? Jobs in more places? Great!

But not if you’re Ocasio-Cortez. The wild-eyed socialist continued ranting on the only theme she seems to know: Criticizing everything.

Displacement is not community development. Investing in luxury condos is not the same thing as investing in people and families.

Shuffling working class people out of a community does not improve their quality of life.

“Has the company promised to hire in the existing community? What’s the quality of jobs [and] how many are promised? Are these jobs low-wage or high wage? Are there benefits? Can people collectively bargain?” she whined on Twitter.

Leave it to the left to take massively good news for their state and turn it into a hand-wringing pity-party.

Even New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, also a Democrat, praised the Amazon announcement. “We’re talking about the single biggest economic development deal in the history of New York City,” he said earlier this week.

Advertisement - story continues below

Instead of cheering something that’s demonstrably good for her own constituents, Ocasio-Cortez went full socialist. (Never go full socialist.)

“It’s about cost of living, corps paying their fair share,” she ranted on social media.

Lastly, this isn’t just about one company or one headquarters. It’s about cost of living, corps paying their fair share, etc.

It’s not about picking a fight, either. I was elected to advocate for our community’s interests – & they‘ve requested, clearly, to voice their concerns.

What is Amazon’s “fair share,” anyway? The reality is that they’re already paying more than anybody reading this will ever see in their life.

“The company, in its latest annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, said that it paid $177 million in income taxes in 2014, $273 million in 2015 and $412 million last year,” reported The New York Times in 2017.

In just those three years, Amazon paid nearly a billion dollars in income taxes. That’s not even considering the taxes paid by its employees — a number that’s about to get bigger as it expands and hires.

This is the real problem with socialists, “democratic” or otherwise: When it comes to demanding other people’s money, they’re never satisfied. It’s never enough.

Advertisement - story continues below

Like rust eating away at a car, they consume more and more, leaving a crumbling mess behind. And like rust, leftist socialism doesn’t add anything. It takes productive and useful things and destroys them.

Benjamin Arie is an independent journalist and writer. He has personally covered everything ranging from local crime to the U.S. president as a reporter in Michigan, before focusing on national politics. Ben frequently travels to Latin America and has spent years living in Mexico.
Follow Benjamin on Facebook

Benjamin Arie has been a political junkie since the hotly contested 2000 election. He attended Florida State University and informally majored in women’s studies, primarily the sorority on the other side of his dorm.
After giving rickshaw driving and nightclub management a go, Ben settled on journalism after realizing he could get paid to rant. He cut his teeth on car accidents and house fires as a small-town reporter in Michigan before becoming a full-time political writer.
Benjamin had a front row seat to the 2016 campaign circus while covering angry protesters and Donald Trump’s nomination at the GOP convention in Cleveland, which cemented his view that half of the country is insane. He has lived as an expat in Latin America, and enjoys piloting gliders and scuba diving when he can get away from the grind.